RootsChat.Com
Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Midlothian => Topic started by: Hunter1 on Thursday 12 November 09 21:16 GMT (UK)
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Hi
I've just received my Great Grandparents' marriage certificate and wonder if anyone knows why they might have got married in a cottage. The wording under 'where married' reads "Glenalmond Cottage, (S******? - I can't read this word) Hill, Edinburgh, after banns according to the forms of the Scottish Episcopal Church". It's dated May 25 1865, with the marriage registered on May 29 at Edinburgh.
I don't know whether the fact that the groom was in the Hussars has any relevance - his address is given as Piershill Barracks.
Any info gratefully received.
Hunter
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First reasons that come to mind for me are:
1) small wedding
2) cheaper than a church
3) one or both non-religious
4) time-constraints
Re last reason: My great grandmother took a ship from England to Canada in 1891; traveled across Canada several days by train; married on a dock seaside in British Columbia; later that night caught a boat to well north on the coast where her husband's business was.
Nick
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Marriages in Scotland did not have to take place in church, and were commonly held at the bride's home.
If you tell us which Edinburgh parish it is, or post the section of the certificate with the word you can't read on the Deciphering board, maybe someone here can help.
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Hello, Hunter, I have a Scottish Marriage that took place in the Manse, not the church.
Regards
Kathb
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Hi Hunter
The River Almond flows into Cramond, on the Firth of Forth, to the west of Edinburgh. But there is no guarantee that Glenalmond Cottage was by the Almond.
Could the Hill be Sciennes Hill, Edinburgh?
Hibee
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Thank you all so much for these very useful replies. Yes I think it is Sciennes Hill! Is it still there?
Hunter
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Sciennes Hill is now Sciennes Hill Place. If you search on google maps you can see the houses on streetview. I have not yet found Glenalmond cottage on an old map, but there are several other cottages in that area.
Kirsty
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I found a Glenalmond Villa in Murray Street Sciennes Hill in 1881. Comparing the old OS maps and a modern one, Murray Street appears to have become Sciennes Gardens. Unfortunately none of the houses in the street are named on any of the maps.
Nell
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Murray Street, named after/for John Murray, accountant, who acquired the ground in 1798 , was renamed in 1882.
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Thanks so much - this is just what I hoped for. Being able to see the street as it is now on Streetview is wonderful.
Emma, the bride, was living at Number 4 North Richmond Street, Edinburgh, at the time of the marriage. She is recorded as a spinster, age 22, and I did wonder if she was in service (she was from Belfast so might have been?), and whether Glenalmond Cottage was something to do with her employer? Or the Hussars? I'm clutching at straws I know, but having just found these ancestors, and the new Edinburgh connection I'm itching to get an idea of their lives.
Many thanks
Hunter.
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Late reply I know but I have only just joined.Marriage at the brides home doesn't seem too unusual,I have great grand parents that did the same and by declaration.This was an early form of civil ceremony whereby if two people decided they were married then they declared so in front of two witnesses and this was then registered as a marriage.I also have grand parents that married at the brides home and other great grand parents that married at a manse.A manse being where the church minister usually lived and would be found next door to the church.I would imagine the reason for marrying at home would be the cost possibly or maybe the bride was already pregnant.As to marriage by declaration in my case it appears to be because one was protestant and one catholic and so could use neither church.
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Hi Hunter
According to the Post Office Directory for Edinburgh 1864-65 , Glenalmond Cottage, Sciennes Hill was the home of the Rev James McLachlan in 1865.
http://www.archive.org/stream/postofficeedinbu186465edi#page/124/mode/2up/search/glenalm
Regards
Sally
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Good reply Grannysrock.This seems to fit in with my own grandparents getting married in the ministers home.I imagine these ceremonies took place in whichever room the minister was using as a study/office.I would guess the reasons for such a ceremony were that they were cheaper than a church wedding or possibly if there was only a short time in which the couple could marry.